


Dog Walkers Anonymous

by garands



Series: Zutara Month 2k16 [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Amazing, F/M, but its zuko, dog walker katara, i never explicitly say its zuko, i'm giving this an extra chapter soon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-14 11:18:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9179197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/garands/pseuds/garands
Summary: "There was a slight pause on the other line. “Hi, my uncle left this number on this fridge in case of emergencies with his dog. I’m having an emergency.”“What kind of emergency?”“Well, I lost the dog.”





	1. A Slight Mishap

**Author's Note:**

> dog walker katara and unexperience dog owner zuko.   
> for day 3 (new year)  
> katara runs her own dog walking business and zuko dogsits for his uncle but manages to lose a 90 pound dog

Katara was in the middle of vomiting when her work phone rang. It was nine in the morning the day after New Year’s Eve, and after a night of too much drinking and dancing, she wanted nothing more than to be done and go back to sleep. But her work phone rang. She felt obligated to pick up, sometimes emergencies happened in her line of work.

She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and picked up. “Hello, Dog Walkers Anonymous, how can I help you?”

There was a slight pause on the other line. “Hi, my uncle left this number on this fridge in case of emergencies with his dog. I’m having an emergency.”

 “What kind of emergency?”

“Well, I lost the dog.”

Oh boy.

Katara sighed. This was going to be an interesting morning.


	2. Petunia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> zuko and katara formally meet and the search for Petunia ensues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm definitely gonna b editing this soon, i literally said Fuck It out loud when i decided to post this so !  
> also, might be lowkey ooc but it's 2 am and i just ate a bag of chocolate chips

Zuko was on his way to dead. He’d lost his uncle’s precious dog. He wasn’t even sure how he did it. Petunia was a 95 pound beast who could put her front paws on his shoulders. He must’ve left the door open or something.

It had been exactly half an hour since he called the dog walker. He’d been pacing around the foyer, stopping every few seconds to check his watch. _Where was she_? It was unreasonable to expect someone to be on time when he’d interrupted their morning, but Zuko was on the verge of a breakdown.

His uncle’s dog was everything to him. Zuko had grown up with Petunia, never really caring much for her and her for him. She tolerated him, at best, but he was glad to say she’d never tried to bite him. That dog had been a constant in his life for almost ten years and he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if she disappeared on his watch.

And then the doorbell rang.

Zuko rushed to the door, opening it wide. “Hi! You must be…”

He’d never asked her name. He’d never even looked her or her business up. _Dumbass._

“Katara, and you must be Uncle Iroh’s nephew.”

“Zuko.” They shook hands.

“So, can I come in?” She looked at him expectantly, folding her lips into a tight smile.

“Yeah! Sure.” He moved away from the door, letting her step inside, and then shutting it. “So… Do you think she’s gone or _gone_ gone?”

Katara smiled at that. “Well, in my personal experience with Petunia, she likes to hide sometimes. Especially when you close and open doors a lot, she thinks she’s going on a walk and she plays her own version of hide and seek.”

Zuko nodded. He’d gotten a little distracted by her. She wasn’t at all what he was expecting from the owner of a dog walking service. She was too…clean. Her clothes didn’t have a single dog hair on them. Not to mention she had the bluest eyes he’d ever seen.

“Do you know any of her hiding spots?” Her cheeks had taken on a slight blush. _Had he been staring? Shit._

“Uh, no. Do you mean, like, under the bed and things like that?” Zuko rubbed the back of his neck. Screw Petunia.

“Yeah. Will you check under the couches and beds down here while I go search upstairs? Cover more ground and all that.” Katara turned to go, when a thought struck her. “You have tried whistling, right?”

Zuko’s face heated up. “I can’t really whistle. Never learned how.”

Katara laughed, “That’s okay. I never learned how to ride a bike. It happens.”

She put two fingers to her mouth and let one of the loudest sounds Zuko had ever heard. They waited for a minute, listening for the tale tell sound of paws hitting the floor. Nothing happened.

“Alright, guess that’s a bust. I’ll go check upstairs now.”


End file.
